Pioneer Day

Ever since I can remember, we have been going to the Nielsen family reunion (grandma Jane's family) on the 24th of July. It used to be at my grandma Jane's sisters' house - Floss, but when the numbers got too high to count, it had to be moved to a more roomy location! Think about it - my great-grandparents had 14 children! And their kids had kids, and their kids had kids and so on and so on....The one constant is SLOPPY JOE'S. This year was hard because usually we try to get to the front of the line to get grandma's potato salad before it's gone. It was GREATLY missed this year. I was a party-pooper this year because Will gets more into the celebration stuff. I just wanted to go home (after getting a LARGE Diet Coke) and relax. No noise, no comotion, no stress. I was able to do that a little, then we went to my parents for Fun Family Fondue night! Ryan's Favorite - CHEESE FONDUE! Or heart attack/high blood pressure on bread! All that food made going to the gym in the morning TORTURE!!

Katie Jane
Emma
Grumpa and Grandma Strong

Does the anchor man in this tug-of-war look a little too big? Boys won!

Katie Jane had rope burns on her hands - with Jay as the achor, these poor cute little girls didn't have a chance!
Cousin Tyree and Lauren
Cousin Jessica and Emma
Katie Jane and Tyree - we've been getting pictures of the kids in this tree almost every year. I'm sure the people below weren't too pleased to have monkeys above them!